Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Late at night, as the heavy rain fell on Tiandu, Gu Chen once again stayed overnight at the Gu Mansion thanks to the persistent retention of his family.

What happened to his second uncle, Gu Chengfeng, also made Gu Chen realize something important—the significance of identity and status. In Jing Tian Department or in the broader context of Da Xia, or even the entire nine provinces, the key to elevating one's status was to possess corresponding strength.

Although Jing Tian Department and Mingjing Department were two separate institutions, had he been a rank one Metropolitan Procurator or even a Commander in Jing Tian Department, how could Liu Ningyuan dare to harm his family members?

As it was, there was no need for Gu Chen to appeal to Zhou Qing.

Gu Chen was never one to rely on external forces. He knew well that in this world, the only person you can truly rely on is yourself.

Favors are things that lose their value once used. This time, Zhou Qing was willing to help him mainly because of his deeds in saving Ning City. If it weren't for that, Gu Chen wouldn't even be able to see Zhou Qing's face, let alone save Gu Chengfeng.

As long as he was strong enough, he could hold a higher position in the Jing Tian Department—one of the three most important organizations in Da Xia. The higher his position in the Jing Tian Department, the more influence he held in the whole of Da Xia.

Thus, the sort of incident that had befallen his second uncle, Gu Chengfeng, would never happen again.

Therefore, enhancing his strength was the current top priority.

After all, this was a feudal world where status matters immensely, and it was also fraught with demons and relentless danger. Only with sufficient strength could one break through all the crises that came knocking.

What relieved Gu Chen was that he was different from others. As long as he worked hard on his own and used the help of the spirit panel, one day, he would achieve what he desired.

But then again, to enhance one's strength, slaying demons was the primary condition. Therefore, the Jing Tian Department was undeniably the best place for Gu Chen in the nine provinces—without a doubt.

Fortunately, during this mission in Ning City, he had slain many demons, earning a considerable amount of merit points, which could bring a significant boost to his own capabilities.

Just as Gu Chen was about to access the panel to utilize the merit points for his own improvement, he suddenly sensed something wrong.

He detected a familiar coldness, a sensation that only appeared in the presence of demons.

"How can there be demons in the Gu Mansion?" Gu Chen frowned slightly. However, the origins of demons were always a mystery, with no one knowing how they came to be.

Then, Gu Chen's expression changed abruptly, for he sensed that the demon was not rushing towards him but towards another direction—towards Gu Qingyan's room.

Gu Chen swiftly stood up and without making a sound, stepped outside his room.

Outside, heavy raindrops poured incessantly from the sky. Now deep into the night, everyone in the Gu Mansion slept, and Gu Chen, following his senses and ignoring the downpour, moved through the mansion like a ghost, completely noiseless.

"Two demons?"

Gu Chen's brow furrowed as he discovered that one demon headed for Gu Qingyan's room while the other made its way to the room of Gu Chengfeng and his aunt, Xu Qinge.

These two demons lacked a physical body and were the same kind of yin spirits Gu Chen had encountered before at the Liu family village.

Having been tormented for a long time in the Mingjing Department's prison, Gu Chengfeng was severely injured. Before going to bed, Gu Chen had transferred inner breath to Gu Chengfeng and applied medicine. Now he was sleeping deeply, completely unaware of his surroundings.

Gu Chen stood there pondering for a moment. Then, with a flash of his figure, he arrived first at Gu Qingyan's boudoir. He heard two regular breathing sounds inside the room.

One belonged to Gu Qingyan, and the other to the maidservant accompanying her in sleep, which was common practice among large households.

As soon as Gu Chen arrived there, a demon appeared close on his heels. The demon's fierce eyes lit up at the sight of Gu Chen and pounced towards him with incredible speed.

The two demons, one comparable to a warrior in the Condensed Breath Realm, and the other having reached the Through Veins Realm.

The demon that came to Gu Qingyan's door only had the cultivation of the Condensed Breath Realm. Before making any sound, Gu Chen moved swiftly, eliminating it with a single palm strike without a whisper.

Afterward, he hurried to Gu Chengfeng's door. The other demon, in the Through Veins Realm, had just arrived there. As it was about to enter the room, Gu Chen appeared close by and captured it within his palm using a surge of force.

Suddenly, Gu Chen hesitated for a moment; during that brief pause, the demon broke free from Gu Chen's hold and fled, rushing out of the Gu Mansion.

Seeing this, Gu Chen's figure flashed as he left the mansion and followed the demon.

His momentary hesitation was due to the realization that something was amiss; the demon had appeared in the Gu Mansion but did not devour commoners first nor seek out the strong vital energy of Gu Chen. Instead, it headed straight for the rooms of Gu Chengfeng and Gu Qingyan with a clear purpose.

It was this realization that alerted Gu Chen to the anomaly. Recalling the day's events, he surmised there was a speculation forming in his mind, which also explained why he let the yin spirit go.

There was no curfew in the outer city of Tiandu, and its defense was far less formidable than the inner city's. Plus, it was now deep into the night and raining heavily, with not a soul on the streets and no soldiers in sight patrolling.

Gu Chen moved through the rain, trailing the yin spirit through the winding streets of the outer city. After a while, the spirit arrived at a manor and silently slipped inside.

Gu Chen stopped there and looked up to see two large characters on the plaque: Liu Mansion!

In that moment, everything made sense. Gu Chen, dressed in black, stood still as rain continuously fell from the sky, merging him perfectly with the surrounding environment.

Boom!

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and in the darkness, it illuminated Gu Chen's face. He looked up at the mansion before him, his expression cold and an unmistakable intense killing intent present in his eyes.

At this moment, within a study in Liu's Residence, Liu Ningyuan sat with a sullen face, waiting for the return of the sinister spirits.

Ever since he returned from the Mingjing Department, he had been sitting there, and as he thought about everything that had happened today, a raging fury burned within him, breeding boundless resentment towards Gu Chen.

After toiling his entire life and finally becoming a second-level Mirror Holder in the Mingjing Department, his efforts were rendered useless overnight. How could Liu Ningyuan not hate, not harbor resentment?

Furthermore, because of Gu Chen, he had also offended Zhou Qing. Although someone like Zhou Qing would not take him seriously enough to target him specifically, at the very least, his life was ruined and his future was bleak.

Only by killing everyone in the Gu Mansion, sparing neither chicken nor dog, could he slightly quell the intense resentment in his heart.

But taking action personally was clearly not an option. In Tiandu, privately killing a court official was a capital offense. Fortunately, Liu Ningyuan had once stumbled upon an evil secret technique that could control sinister spirits, and he had never mentioned this to anyone, not even his wife or son, Liu Zheng.

In Da Xia, raising spirits and manipulating them in secret was a grave crime. He thought he would never have to use it, had nearly forgotten about it, yet tonight, this wicked secret art came into play.

He did not choose to attack Gu Chen with the sinister spirits because he felt Gu Chen, after all, was young and strong and as an officer of the Jing Tian Department, was most skilled at dealing with such things, which could likely raise the alarm.

Therefore, he manipulated the spirits to first kill the severely injured Gu Chengfeng, as well as the ordinary Xu Qinge and Gu Qingyan.

After the family of Gu Chengfeng died, the spirits would devour everyone in the Gu Mansion, and only then would they deal with Gu Chen.

Even if Gu Chen survived, if the spirits devoured the rest of the Gu Mansion, it would be enough. Even if Gu Chen lived, the event would torment him tremendously, being worse than death.

In Liu Ningyuan's view, this was no different than killing Gu Chen himself.

The thought of everything about to happen to the Gu Mansion made Liu Ningyuan's heart much lighter, a smile spread across his face, brimming with satisfaction.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a shadow rushed in from outside the window and then dove into a small bottle on the desk in front of Liu Ningyuan.

"What's going on?"

Liu Ningyuan frowned, sensing something was amiss. Why had only one of the two sinister spirits returned?

He did not believe that the Gu Mansion had a way to counter the two spirits. Although Gu Chen was a first-order patrolling officer of the Jing Tian Department, he had only reached the Breath Concealment Realm, and the Gu Mansion had just two martial artists in total. The other, Gu Chengfeng, was severely injured and definitely without the ability to resist.

Boom, boom!

Suddenly, thunder roared in the heavens, and an enormous lightning bolt split the sky, illuminating the dark night of Tiandu.

Creak!

The wind howled, and the study's door was abruptly pushed open. A figure stepped in, accompanied by the lingering thunder that remained in the sky.

The person was none other than Gu Chen!

Seeing Gu Chen walking in, Liu Ningyuan's face changed, his heart lifted, and he instinctively cried out in alarm, "Impossible, how could you... how could you have not died?"

"Today, it is you who should die!"

Gu Chen's face was stern, his eyes as sharp as knives and threatening. He did not give Liu Ningyuan any chance to speak. With a flash, he rushed forward to Liu Ningyuan, not holding back at all. The inner strength of more than a hundred years coursed through the sixteen meridians he had opened in the Channel Thriving Realm, spreading to his palms.

Bang!

The palm filled with Gu Chen's boundless killing intent solidly struck Liu Ningyuan's chest, and the robust palm force shattered his heart in an instant.

"You!"

Liu Ningyuan's eyes widened, pointing at Gu Chen with bloody froth spilling from his mouth. He tried to say something, mustering all his strength, but he couldn't utter a single word.

In that moment, he finally understood why tonight's assassination attempt had failed, but he could not comprehend how Gu Chen had become so powerful.

After all, do note he, too, had attained the Channel Thriving Realm, having opened twenty-three meridians within his body, yet he couldn't withstand even a single palm strike from Gu Chen.

Thump, Liu Ningyuan fell to the ground, endless darkness invading his consciousness. As the last moments of life approached, a torrent of emotions flooded his heart – regret, rage, unwillingness, resentment – a mix of many feelings intertwined.

If he had known what would happen today, even if his son, Liu Zheng, had died at the hands of Gu Chen, he certainly would have refrained from any thoughts of retaliation.

But unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world, and life cannot be rewound. Liu Ningyuan's life ended just like that; his consciousness sank into boundless darkness as he took his last breath before Gu Chen.